Mine to Give, Yours to Choose
by The One and Only CGK
Summary: In the West, Solar's, Lunar's and... something else... hunt for treasure, fight extraordinary adversaries, and sail the open sea with the assistance of a man made of sand. When he cashes in these favors, what will he ask for? M for harsh language and violence
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Something doesn't quite feel right today, Barrons," Murana said to her First Mate, Lucia Barrons.

Barrons deeply inhaled the salty sea air. While everything seemed normal, Murana did usually have a sixth sense about these kinds of things.

"Denanzig! Viniana! If you see anything unusual, you let me know the moment it happens! That goes for you too, Seafayll," Barrons relayed to her crew members.

"Yes, Sir!" they yelled in unison.

Denanzig, a tall, dark skinned, bald headed western islander made his sweeps on the deck to make sure everything was in place on their salvage vessel, The Cunning Plunder. He was the Quartermaster of the ship, and the only male on this Tya crew. Captain Murana allowed him to be apart of the ship after he was rescued from a slave ship that had been burnt and sunk by Coral raiders. The Tya crew thought he was dead as they found him amongst a floating bed of bludgeoned lifeless sharks that had been fasted together as a raft. Miraculously he was alive and because his escape was so flamboyant, the Captain let him stay on the boat. At first she would threaten that they were going to kick him off the boat at the next port, but little by little, he grew on them all, and was made a member of the crew.

Seafayll stood at the bow of the ship focused on the waters ahead of her. The wind calmly ran through her grey streaked blond hair. Upon closer inspection, for anyone that cared to pay attention, her right eye, scarred from her eyebrow to cheekbone, swirled like a maelstrom, attempting to detect anything out of the ordinary. It wasn't talked about often, but from what the crew could gather, she received the scar and the mutated eye due to a Wyld encounter on the western edges of the isles many years prior. She was the oldest of the crew, and they sometimes wondered how someone of her age was still alive, due to the hard life at sea.

Viniana, the ships navigator flawlessly climbed her way up to the crows nest. She was definitely the one with the most flare of the bunch, with spiky pink hair, and normally wore gypsy style paints and a tube top. She also wore glasses, which was not common for a seafaring girl. Settled at the top, she extended her spyglass and scanned the horizon.

Barrons made her way down below deck to the kitchen to see what Saldeana, Viniana's sister, was cooking up for them this evening. "Probably fish again," she muttered to herself.

"Well if you don't like what I cook, then find someone else to do it!" Saldeana said as she glared at Barrons.

"Oh, you heard me. Oops," Barrons said sarcastically.

Saldeana let out a huff.

"Captain has one of her funny feelings again. Just make sure you are ready to hold fast if anything happens."

"Aye. You know her feelings are usually right."

"I know."

As Barrons made her way to the crews quarters to make one more crew member aware of what is going on, she thought about the Captain and Saldeana. _The only reason she is even on this boat is because she can't be without Murana. She is a lousy cook, and does nothing else for this ship besides making us clothes. Besides that, the clothes aren't even appropriate for sailing! Who wants to be on deck in a frilly dress? I swear if the Captain didn't love her so much… she doesn't even address her appropriately!_

"Barrons?" Kelsey said sheepishly.

"Kelsey, sorry. I wasn't paying attention. Captain has a feeling again. You may get to do some repairs yet!"

"Oh no… no… I hate it when the boat gets damaged… I mean I may have nothing to do right now but when it is a mess… oh dear," Kelsey said as she fidgeted around with her clothes and made sure her hair was behind her ears, even though it was in a ponytail. Kelsey was constantly fidgeting with herself to make sure her hair was tied, or her overalls and her oversized undershirts loosely hung. Sometimes she went as far as making sure her bindings she wore underneath were tight enough so she didn't show off her enormous lady bumps. She always seemed quite nervous in any conversation she had with any of the crew members. Especially Viniana.

"It's ok! I just wanted to warn you, that's all."

"Oh, uh… Yes, Barrons. I understand."

Hours passed. The sun was soon to meet the horizon and night began to fall.

"Captain. The day is done. I will stay on watch. You haven't eaten all day. Go eat with Saldeana," Barrons said.

"I feel like if I leave, that is when it will hit."

"What will?"

She pointed to the darkened horizon. "There is a tinge of green. I can barely see it. It could be the Lintha."

"It could also be the night colors. We have seen those streaks of green a million times. That is all it is."

"Maybe you are right."

"Maybe. I will keep watch. Go eat."

Barrons watched the sea, only made visible by the light of the moon and the stars. The green on the horizon seemed to come and go, telling her that it was only the patterns they sometime see at night. As she phased out, focused on the moon reflection on the water, the horizon surrounding her became increasingly green. Within moments, the entire ship was bathed in green light.

Barrons dashed for the warning bell and franticly pulled the rope while screaming, "LINTHA!"

The crew burst through the doors below deck. The first to emerge was Murana, already shouting out orders.

"Man the cannons! We need to be in the winds advantage!" She paused for a moment, seeing at least three Lintha ships surrounding them.

"We are out gunned Cap. We need to retreat!" shouted Seafayll.

Time seemed to pause just for a moment for Barrons. At one moment, she saw her fiery red haired captain pointing and shouting out orders in attempt to flee from the Lintha. Her confidence, her prowess, this is the woman she looks up to. The woman she wants to be. _Who cares if we have to flee? If she wanted to, this woman could rule the world._

Then, a blinding green flash of light. Murana stood motionless. Barrons rushed towards the captain, only to see that half her face was missing. Murana finally fell to the ground.

"MURANA!" Saldeana screamed as she saw her lover collapse on the deck. "No! NO! Someone help her!"

Saldeana attempted to rush toward her body, only to be held back by Denanzig. "It's too late. It's too late…" he said, trying to be consoling in his islander accent.

The ship began to have a golden shimmer. The crew was blinded by a golden light emanating from Barrons. A giant ships wheel blazed above her head.

"These mother fuckers will pay!" shouted Barrons as she turned The Cunning Plunder directly towards the first Lintha ship.

The crew was too scared to tell her it was a collision course and the ship would be destroyed.

Before impact, the boat was enveloped in gold, the bow becoming sharp, like a spear. The vessel crashed through the first Lintha ship, splitting it in two. There was no damage to The Cunning Plunder.

She made her headway to the next vessel. The boat moved faster, as if the ship itself was seeking the blood of Lintha. It sped into the second ship, again slicing the boat in two and destroying it.

Barrons turned the wheel to the final ship. Her anima banner, the golden wheel, was shining bright above her head. The green Lintha vessel, seeing its other 2 raiding ships destroyed was attempting to retreat.

Barrons yelled as loud as she could. "YOU ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!"

The Cunning Plunder seemed to glide across the water, catching up to the final Lintha vessel within seconds. It too was demolished by the golden spear.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"You want me to just get on the dingy and head where, Master?"

"Anywhere you feel you should go. This is the next part of your training. You haven't left me for quite some time. It is good to explore. To make discoveries. When you see fit, come back to me, and tell me of your adventure," the ghostly blue specter advised his student.

"How long should I travel?"

"Ethan, I just said when you are fit to come back to me. If you have a story to tell me within 5 minutes, then 5 minutes. If it takes 5 days, then 5 days. 5 months? So be it."

"I don't think I can travel on this boat for 5 months, let alone 5 days."

"Fair enough. Did you get the wind knots like I asked you to?"

"Yes, I have a few."

"And you know how to use them?"

"Yes, I know how to use them…"

"Well then. First thing in the morning, you leave Onyx for your own little adventure!"

"Yes, Master."

* * *

"God, how long has it been…" Ethan said to himself as he continued to sail North West. He didn't have any idea how long he had been sailing, if it had been just a few days or a few weeks. He lost track of time fairly quickly.

He was leaning back in his boat when out of the corner of his eye he saw an odd looking bird. He peered at the speck in the sky to get a clearer view. It looked like a bird, except it had tentacles coming out of its rear. It almost looked like an octopus was trying to eat the bird in the sky, but that couldn't be possible.

He watched this odd looking bird for a few minutes, when it suddenly disappeared as if it went behind a curtain.

"That was weird."

He changed his course into the direction the bird was heading. The sea seemed to be open in front of him, with nothing coming in to view, however he started to feel a resistance to the direction he was going. Soon the boat slowed and started to move away from the direction he was headed, even though the wind in the sail was still pushing him forward.

"Time to use one of these."

Ethan untied one of the knots he had. A small wind god appeared and blew on his sail, into the resistance. He began moving forward again at a much faster pace, but he could still feel whatever it was trying to push him away. It felt like two magnet's trying to repel each other.

Ethan kept his eyes forward still seeing nothing ahead. He was soon to give up when within a blink of an eye an island appeared in front of him. It was like a veil had been pulled to reveal a hidden object, except this object was a decent sized island.

Now curious as to what was on this island, as it was still attempting to push him away from it, he continued on his course to the beach of this island. It took about an hour but he finally was able to pull his boat onto shore.

Wasting no time, Ethan made his way to the center of the island, making his way through brush and tree's. He listened for the sound of animals, but heard nothing. Not even the sound of a cricket. He left a trail of leaves behind him as he walked so he would know how to get back.

It seemed impossible that he was walking through this jungle for four hours and not reach the other side. It didn't seem as if it was that big of on island. Finally he started hearing something. It was a faint thump in the distance. As he got closer, the thump got louder, and he could start to feel the ground shaking with each thump.

Again, it took another two hours before he reached a clearing where he could see what was happening. The earthshaking bang was very clear, as he could see what was making the noise.

Before him was a large building, with a center pillar. Within the pillar, a piston was rising then falling to the ground. Ethan stayed at the edge of the clearing and moved west so he could see what the piston was doing. As he was walking the edge, he saw a giant trail of specters leading towards the column. They were shackled together in a line, and moving one by one towards the piston. With the tower in clear view now, Ethan could see that when a ghost was standing beneath the piston, it slammed down on top of the ghost. When it rose, a black metal sheet was all that was left. The sheet of metal was removed, and then a new ghost would stand beneath the piston, and the same thing would happen.

Over and over again, Ethan saw each ghost meet its end, being pressed into the black metal sheets. He followed the endless line of ghosts in amazement. He wanted to save them. He had lived on Onyx all his life. Ghosts were always around him. His master was a ghost! He wanted to free these souls from this end.

As he continued to scan the specters, he saw an uncle that died many years ago, shackled like the rest, on his way to meet his doom. Ethan was about to run out to free him when he saw guards outfitted in this black metal. There were many of them, and he knew that there was no way he could even give a warning to his uncle. He was forced to sit and watch as the spirits made their way to the factory. Finally, his uncle stood in the center column. Just before he was crushed into the black steel, he looked back at Ethan. The look on his ghostly face was one of agony and remorse. It was as if he was saying to Ethan that this had to be stopped. The piston slammed on top of his uncle, leaving behind the eerie black sheet of metal.

Ethan couldn't help but let out a small cry. He knew any soul here would never see Lethe. His uncle would forever be lost, trapped inside the black sheet of metal made of souls.

"I see someone!" grunted a guard, pointing in Ethan's direction. Soon, four black steel clad guards began running towards him with the weapons drawn.

Ethan ran towards the way he came. The push of the center of this island helped him along, and within minute he was back at the beach where his boat was left. He hastily pushed it to the ocean and climbed inside. There was no resistance getting away from the island, in fact he was sailing away from it at amazing speed. Ethan made one final look to see how far way from the island he was and found that just as quickly as it appeared, it had disappeared.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"You should be excited. You are getting married to Ledaal Ianus! You will be wealthy! You can have anything you want!" said Jenvieve.

"I don't love him," Natasha said.

"That will come with time. He is handsome. Very handsome! You will learn to love him, I am sure!"

"We are only getting married because my parents arranged it. I don't care if he is rich or handsome or good in bed, I don't want to marry him."

"Oh get over yourself. I will be here in the morning to fit you for your dress."

The woman who was supposed to be Natasha's best friend stormed out and slammed the door. The clicks of the locks being put in place were heard. There was no way she was going to escape this nightmare.

Later in the evening, Nat was leaning over her balcony, watching the shipyard as more ships came into dock. She came to an idea.

She rummaged through the drawers and found some baggy clothes that could very well look like boys clothes. She wrapped her chest to flatten it a little, stuffed her hair in a cap and put on the baggy shirt and overalls.

She was on the third story of her suite, so getting out was going to be only a little difficult. There was enough linen in the room that she could tie together for a rope.

Daybreak was only a few hours away. She had to make her way to one of the ships and try to stow away…

* * *

Ethan made his way back to his home in Onyx. It was almost night time, which was perfect since the first thing he wanted to do was summon his master.

Since it was still somewhat daylight, the ghosts were all kept away, and there were very few people on the streets. Onyx, like most of the island of Skullstone, mostly inhabited those that were no longer living. Very few of the living remained on this island.

Ethan plopped into his bed and shut his eyes for a quick nap before he would summon his master.

A few hours went by. Ethan awoke to the night sky, still lying in his bed. He got up and lit his 6 black candles, already in place, and summoned his Master.

"Hello boy. How was your adventure? Did you learn anything?"

"Yes," Ethan said with a stern face.

"Well usually you are more talkative than this," his master chuckled, "What happened out there Ethan?"

"I saw… I saw a machine that murders ghosts."

His master stopped chuckling. He cocked his head to the side to think about what Ethan was saying. "Tell me what you saw."

"A giant machine. Something heavy was pressing down on ghosts, and all that was left of them was black metal."

The specter raised his eyebrow. "Soul Steel. Interesting. How did you come about this place?"

Ethan explained the odd looking bird, the resistant push away, the sudden appearance of the island, and everything that transpired. His master only sat in front of him, not nodding, not acknowledging anything that was said, and just listening.

"Ethan, you need to leave. Now."

"What?"

"You need to go. They will be looking for you. In fact, they are looking for you now. I can hear them. Get back on your boat and go! Summon me when you are in a safe place!"

"But Mast-"

"JUST GO!"

Ethan gathered some of his things very quickly and threw them in a backpack. He heard loud footsteps approaching his door. As his door was being kicked in, Ethan jumped out his glassless window. He could hear the men that kicked through his door yelling and screaming, "Get him! He is escaping out the window!"

Ethan ran as fast as he could towards his boat. As he was running he noticed lines of specters pointing towards him. As he passed them, they continued to point at him, leading the ones following him in the direction that he was going.

He was getting another knot ready to help him escape. He looked behind him and could see many guards chasing after him and the continuous line of pointing green specters rising from the ground. He jumped on his boat and untied the knot. The wind god blew on his sails, and he rushed out to sea.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Aoibheal, you know I don't condone of your 'profession.' Stop asking the crew if they want tattoos. I won't allow that in my presence anymore!" Ledaal Kayla said.

"But I am bored. There is nothing to do. When was the last time we were at port? It's been over a year since we were in Chiaroscuro. I could have just stayed there…"

"I know. But there was nothing left for you there. You should be glad I found you when I did. If you had been taken to the council for stealing that bread they may have cut off your hands. You were lucky it was me that saw you do that. You know that vendor caught you? I paid him for the bread so you wouldn't get into trouble."

"I know, I know! You have told me a thousand times now. And I am grateful. I do like being out to sea. It's funny to watch some of the crewmen puke overboard. You would think since they have been out here as long as they have they would be used to it by now."

"Aoibheal, it isn't funny to watch someone else's misfortune. When are you going to start listening to the things I am trying to teach you?"

"I listen… I swear," she replied guiltily.

"It shouldn't be long before we reach port. I will take you to a nice place, get you filled up with some good food, and take you to get some better clothes. You show too much skin. You need a nice dress."

"Ugh…dresses."

"Well if you didn't keep cutting your pants to the knees and ripping your shirts to show your belly, we wouldn't be having this discussion!"

 _Blah blah blah,_ Aoibheal thought to herself. She did love Kayla. Although she was a stern emissary of Ledaal, she was more of a parent to her than her own. Her mother died giving birth to her. Her father never showed her any love or affection. It always seemed like he blamed her for the death of his wife. His beloved.

Aoibheal was almost a natural artist. Even though it was something that was forced upon her once her father figured out he could get money for her work, she still enjoyed it. Even when he beat her nearly half to death because a sketch or a painting wasn't "good enough."

She remembered as if it was yesterday when her father locked her in her room because she painted a picture that had an unseen image. At a glance, the painting showed angelic creatures, blissful and happy. Upon deeper inspection, if the image was tilted it was actually a gruesome image of demons. His outrage led to keeping her in a room and barricading the door so she couldn't get out. After 3 days of no food and no water, she began to pound on the door for him to let her out. She had no windows to try and climb out of. For two more days, she beat on the door, inching it open little by little. After five days, weak from near starvation and dehydration, she emerged from her prison. There was no sign of her father being home. When she checked the storage cabinet she saw that most of the food was starting to spoil. Three more days passed with no return of her father. Finally, she had to leave as there was no longer any food.

She had no success in selling her paintings as no one wanted to buy anything from a 13 year old girl. She ate scraps that were thrown away because there was nothing else. Soon she had resorted to stealing. Kayla ended up following Aoibheal to her hideout that day.

After she found out how old Aoibheal was, she offered to let her stay with her until she was old enough to make it on her own.

Three years passed, and although Kayla constantly lectured Aoibheal about her chosen and painful profession of tattooing, she still showed her kindness as no one else had. The lectures had been worse in the past year out to sea. Aoibheal was lectured almost daily about "The body is a temple," and "We need to find you a new way to express yourself." She loved her, but god she was getting on her nerves.

As promised, Kayla took Aoibheal to eat and to get new clothes at port. They didn't stay long and before she knew it, they were back on the boat, ready to set sail.

What they all failed to notice was a squirrel frantically running towards the ship as it was leaving the dock, and jumping inside the ship through an open porthole.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Captain! I think I found something! Or someone…" a crewman yelled to Captain Tetsujin.

"What do we have here, Kellen?" Tetsujin asked in his islander accent.

"I just found him here. We have ourselves an extra crewman."

"Hey," Tetsujin said as he poked the sleeping boy. "Whatchu doin here?"

Natasha awoke startled. "Oh! I am so sorry! I need a place to stay! I will earn my keep!"

"Nah. You not apart of da crew. How do I know you ain't a fugitive? Maybe you runnin from da law. I need you off my boat now."

"Let me stay till the next port! I will earn my keep I swear!"

"Yea? What do you do."

"I can cook. Really well!"

"I already got a cook."

"I am better!"

Captain Tetsujin contemplated for a moment. "You cook for me tonight, we see how you do. If I like it I will let you stay till da next port."

"Thank you so much Captain! You won't regret this!"

"Yea, yea. You a scrawny lookin boy. If you cook so good, why you not eatin it all yourself?"

"Oh I eat! I am just small. Probably to make it easier to make my way through the kitchen! What would you like for dinner?"

"I dunno. See what's in da pantries. Make something from dere. What's your name, boy?"

"Nathan."

"Ok, Nathan, get to work."

"Yes sir!"

* * *

Natasha looked through the cupboards of the kitchen. "Fish, fish, more fish. Ah, spices!"

She heard a shuffle of tiny feet make its way to the kitchen.

"Whatcha doin?" a small, dark skinned little islander girl asked Natasha.

"Oh, hi. Well I am cooking. Are you supposed to be in here?"

"My daddy says I can go anywhere I want."

"Oh," Natasha said enthusiastically. "Who is your daddy?"

"My daddy is the Captain!"

"Well then I suppose its ok that you are in here. You want to help me?"

"I can help you!? No one ever lets me help!" she exclaimed, wide eyed and happy.

The little girl ran over to Natasha and gave her a hug. Natasha crouched down to her level so she could smile at the little girl.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Marda. What's your name?"

"I'm Nathan."

Marda looked confused. "But that is a boy's name."

"Well… Yes."

Marda padded Natasha's chest. "But you are not a boy."

She had been found out by the smallest member of the crew. "Well, now you know my secret. But can you keep it for me? No one knows I am a girl, and I don't want them to know."

"Ok. You have to keep a secret too!"

"Hmm?"

"I'm not really allowed in the kitchen…"

"Well then, I will keep your secret and you can come here any time you like, as long as you keep mine. Deal?"

"Yay!"

* * *

"Dinner is served, Captain."

Natasha placed all of the food she cooked on the table. There was an assortment of fish, dishes with mounds of potatoes, fruit platters and even seaweed soup. It smelled amazing.

After the first bite the Captain leaned back in his chair and began moaning. "Mmm, I never thought someone could make fish not taste like fish! Dis is amazing! How you do it?"

"I told you, I am a good cook!"

"Maybe I keep you around longer dan just da next port…"

* * *

 _I wish this boat was faster. I wish she would stop bitching at me. I wish something exciting was happening. Its so boring being around her all the time! Please, please, please let something happen soon,_ Aoibheal thought to herself. Three days out now, off to a new place before they settled on what would be their new home. She wasn't even paying attention when Kayla told her where they were going.

Suddenly she heard the chime of the warning bell. "SHIP APPROACHING!" a crewman yelled.

"Stay here, Aoibheal," Ledaal Kayla ordered. She got out of bed and made her way on deck. Aoibheal made her way to the steps to see if she could overhear anything.

"Prepare to be boarded! We only have a few questions!" yelled someone from the other ship.

After a few minutes of planks being set for boarding, she heard Kayla speak.

"What does Skullstone want with a Ledaal ship? We are on our way to-"

"We just want information on this boy. Have you seen him?"

Aoibheal peeked her head up to see what was going on. She saw a wanted flyer being shown to Kayla. The name on the flyer was Ethan.

"No, we have not seen that boy. Now will you leave so we can be on our way?"

The man holding the flyer grinned with a menacing look in his eye.

"What are you in such a hurry for? Your haste makes it seem like you are hiding something. Men! Search below deck!"

Aoibheal scampered back to her quarters and shut the curtain. She tried to hide but there were not many hiding places. Not long after, an armored hand forcefully pulled away the curtain. The crewman of the Skullstone ship yanked her by her arm and forcefully pushed her up the stairs to get on deck. He threw her with the rest of the crew.

"Another girl? What's a couple of girls doing out here on this ship huh? Looking for some fun maybe?"

The man that was holding the flyer grabbed Kayla by the hair and pushed her against the mast of the ship. "Take her to our ship, boys. Let's see if they have anything in the hold. Bind all these fuckers here too. Tie that one up," as he is pointed to Aoibheal, "over there to that post on our ship. We will have fun with her later."

"Why are you doing this!? Don't you know who I am?" Kayla screamed.

He moved his face in close to her, nose to nose. "House Ledaal never scared me none."

Kayla led out a bloodcurdling scream as she and Aoibheal were forced on to the Skullstone Ship. The men tied her to the mast of their vessel, and bound Aoibheal's hands behind her on a guard post for the cannons.

"Blow it!" the man yelled to his crew. The cannons exploded towards the Ledaal ship. After a few direct hits, the vessel exploded. Fiery chunks of wood began raining down on the sea. Kayla sobbed "no, no, no," over and over again, knowing that the crew was left behind to be murdered in the destruction. Aoibheal only stared off at the water, focusing on the occasional floating piece of burning wood.

Next the man in charge started to rip away Ledaal Kayla's dress, exposing her legs, then her belly. She kicked as hard as she could to get the man off of her. She screamed at him things Aoibheal had never heard Kayla say in her life. She spit in his face and tried to bite him if he got too close to her, but it was no use.

Aoibheal could only sit there. She had already cut her bindings on a sharp piece of nail that was on the post. At any time, she could go try to save her friend, the woman that took care of her the last 4 years of her life, but she couldn't move. She watched it happen.

"You know what, bitch! You are giving me too hard of a time here. I am finished with you, and your little bitch over there is next. You better hope she doesn't put up a fight," he said as he slit the throat of Ledaal Kayla. "Kill them all. Save that one for me," he ordered his crew while pointing at Aoibheal.

As the Skullstone crew slaughtered the rest of the people on board, the area began filling with green mist. Within seconds, the entire ship was enveloped, and there was no visibility.

"What the fu-" the man exclaimed as all Aoibheal heard was the gurgling sound of blood being expelled from his mouth. She heard his body thump to the floor. And another body, and another.

She felt herself being lifted into the air. _This is it,_ she thought.

"You could have saved her," a whispered slithery voice said to her.

"What?"

"The woman. You watched her die. You could have saved her."

Aoibheal sobbed. "I know."

"It doesn't have to be this way"

"What?"

"You can either live with regret the rest of your life, or I can help you forget. You will have power. Glory. You probably won't live very long with this suffering… You might not even live long enough in this place, by yourself. Do you wish to live?"

"Yes."

"Then accept the bargain."

She didn't even think about it long. "I accept."

Her mouth was forced open, as a slimy tentacle was forced down her throat. It seemed to go on forever. _There couldn't possible be enough room in my body for this. I really am going to die,_ she thought. _It's going to kill me._ She gagged from it sliding down her throat. She tried to breath but couldn't. She thought she would suffocate until finally she passed out.

* * *

 _That was close_ , the squirrel thought. She managed to escape through a porthole before the ship was destroyed. She watched as the crew of the Skullstone ship cheered on their captain for raping the Ledaal woman. They cheered even more when he slit her throat.

Too weak to do anything, the squirrel could only watch as green mist surrounded the boat. It completely enveloped the boat, and she could see nothing, but hear everything. Next the gagging noises of the crew. She heard bodies falling, and what she could only assume was blood being spilled on the deck. The last thing she remembered was seeing the demon eristarfu tearing apart the Skullstone ship.

* * *

Aoibheal woke up. She was wrapped inside something. She could hear the sound of whatever she was in being dragged across the ground. She was too weak to say anything. Too weak to move. After a few hours, she felt it stop and fell asleep again.

The next time she woke, she could see a slight hint of light. Yesterday, or what she thought was yesterday, she thought the cocoon she was in was so thick it didn't let in any light as it was pitch dark the entire time she was being dragged. Now there was something. Still unable to move or speak, she closed her eyes again and drifted off...

Again, another day, and the light from outside her cocoon growing brighter. Then another day. Then another. But on this day, day five, she and whoever was with her had reached their destination.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"What the hell happened here?" Viniana asked herself as they drifted to a stop next to the wreckage of two boats. It was recent enough that one of the boats wreckage was still on fire.

"Lintha?" Saldeana asked.

"I don't know. Any survivors?"

"Who the hell could survive that? And I don't care anyway. Check for anything to salvage." Captain Barrons ordered.

They searched through the floating wreckage, not finding much except for a few barrels of saltwater contaminated grog and bounty posting for a young looking kid named Ethan.

"There is nothing but shit here. Let's go." Barrons said.

"CAPTAIN!" Viniana yelled. "Survivor!" She pointed at a floating piece of wood with a young woman on top of it. She had long dark hair, and she was wearing a white dress. The dress was odd, as even in the water, it seemed to be dry as a bone.

"Fuck. You know, when there is one there is going to be others. Let's pick her up. We will drop her off at the next port. No one else is getting on my damn boat!"

"Aye, Cap'n!"

* * *

Natasha woke in a start to the alarm bell. She searched around to make sure she was properly dressed as a boy before running to the deck. Everyone was getting what they had of weapons ready. Natasha peered off in the distance and saw the familiar green glow of the Lintha vessel that was approaching.

"Prepare yourselves!" Tetsujin yelled. "Nathan, boy… Can ya fight?"

"Not very well sir… I am sorry sir."

"Take care of my daughter den! Go back down!"

"Aye sir!"

"Kellen! Dey look like dey want to board our ship. Let's give dem a reason to fear mortals! You demon blooded bastards!" Tetsujin yelled.

Cannon fire from the crew had very little effect as the Lintha ship approached. Within moments, they were close enough and Lintha invaders started swinging on to Tetsujin's boat. They looked as they usually did, some with spiky, disheveled Mohawks, or unkempt top knots. Their long limbs that almost, just almost looked abnormal, but enough to notice there was something wrong. And their pointed, thin features… the pointed nose, chins. The gaunt look of their cheeks, looking almost too thin as the bones appeared to almost protrude from their skin. And yet, they were fast in combat, equipped with all sorts of scimitars and grated swords.

"This is about the get ugly," Kellen said.

"For dem!" Tetsujin replied.

Lintha poured on to the ship. It was hard to believe this many were from just one boat. Although the crew did their best fighting, soon all that was left on the deck was Kellen and Tetsujin, standing back to back, swinging at their oncoming foe.

"They are NOT going to hurt you, captain! I will be sure of that!" Kellen screamed as he stabbed an invader above his captain, who was already cut and exhausted from the fight.

"We… we may not win dis."

As he heard the words of defeat from his captain, Kellen felt something inside of him. He heard something. It started tingling through his body as they heard the horrifying scream of a woman below deck…

* * *

"It's ok. We will be safe here. I know my way around a kitchen. If anyone comes here… I will just… stab them… with the butcher knife. I should be good at that…" Natasha assured Marda while waving around a large kitchen knife.

The little girl was crying. She kept whimpering and asking if her daddy was ok. Natasha did what she could to calm her down as she heard the clashing of metal up on top. It seemed to last forever.

Suddenly, she heard the door crash open as a Lintha raider cam rushing in with a Molotov cocktail in his had. He had a crazy look on his face as he was screaming, running towards Natasha.

Without even looking, Natasha made a stabbing motion towards the raider as she turned her head the other way, either hoping for a quick death for herself, or a good stab at him. She heard a breaking of glass and the booming sound of fire. She looked back to see that she had stabbed the demon blooded Lintha in the heart, all the way to the handle of the knife. The force had knocked the flaming bottle over her head and on the kitchen floor. The galley burned.

 _Shit, we are going to die. No. No, he asked me to take care of his daughter and that is what I will do…_

They were soon surrounded, pinned against a wall with no wear to go. Natasha pounded on the wall with her fists, over and over and over again. She was determined to break down this wall, even if it seemed impossible.

She felt a tingle of warmth throughout her limbs. Determined to break through, Natasha grabbed a barrel that was nearby that had not caught on fire yet.

The room started to get a silvery brightness to it but Natasha shrugged it off as being the fire. She turned around to see if Marda was ok as she forcefully threw the barrel into the side of the ship. Marda had her jaw dropped like she couldn't believe what was happening. Natasha made a hole in the ship, large enough for the two of them to escape.

"You did it!"

"Lets get out of here before this fire gets any closer. Come on Marda!" Natasha yelled as she cleared debris from the hole.

Natasha felt the Lintha bolt coming towards her. It was almost slow motion as it was coming closer and closer. She yelled out to Marda to get down as it passed through the hole and into the already burning galley.

"God damn it that was close. Let's get out of here Marda."

Silence.

"Marda?" She looked back as the body of the little girl fell to the floor, with a giant gaping hole in her chest.

"MARDA! NO! NOOOOOOOOOO!" Natasha screamed.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"These fuckers are going DOWN!" Barrons yelled. "Point me towards that Lintha vessel! I will do the rest!"

"Yes captain!" Denanzig replied.

The course was set towards the Lintha. Barrons channeled her essence and willed the Cunning Plunder faster, pointed. The Golden Spear.

"You will all PAY!" she screamed as she rammed through the Lintha with ease, breaking it apart into pieces.

"Viniana, Denanzig! See if there is anyone on this ship," Barrons yelled. "You better the hope there isn't. I don't want any more damn castaways!"

Denanzig looked around the boat, feeling some sense of familiarity. The deck was covered in blood, both from its crew, and then Lintha that invaded. Seeing no signs of life, he went below to check the captain's quarters.

Before he could enter, Viniana stepped out. "No one in there. Doesn't look like they even made it this far."

"Okay. Let's check da galley. Dere may be people in dere." Denanzig said.

They made their way to the galley, checking rooms and storage for any signs of life. There were a few slain crew members and Lintha strewn about, but no survivors.

Finally, they made it to the kitchen. Denanzig dropped his polearm. His face screwed up, with a mixture of anger and suffering by the scene.

Viniana was right behind him and stepped in to see what could possibly cause the bravest man she knew drop his weapon.

In the kitchen, a tall islander man kneeled down, cradling the body of a lifeless, young girl. Next to the islander was a tall man who looked like a… beast man. You could tell he was a man, but also had the hands and the face and even the build of a tiger. Next to this… were tiger, was a shaggy black wolf, with bright yellow eyes, staring down at the little girl, whimpering sadness. Viniana had heard of these beings, sometimes called Anathema. She wondered if she happened to be standing in front of at least one of them right now.

She heard a whisper from Denanzig. She couldn't make out what he said. She looked at his face, still the same as a moment ago, with a single tear rolling down his cheek.

"Denanzig?" she said as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Marda…" the man kneeling said.

"Tetsujin… No…" Denanzig replied.

The man looked up, and his face was swollen and red, his face wet with the tears that were continuously streaming down his face. His eyes widened at seeing Denanzig.

"Brudda!" he screamed.

Denanzig ran and slid towards him, stopping a few inches away from Marda. Denanzig inspected her to see if there was anything that could be done. He cradled her head and wiped a hair off of her face. There was nothing there. Denanzig knew she was gone.

He looked up to his brother, trying to muster out the words of consolation, but nothing came out. Instead, Tetsujin grabbed him and hugged him hard. He gripped Denanzig's shoulder, almost breaking the skin.

"Vin," Denanzig coughed up. "Go tell da captain. Dis is my brudda. Dis was my niece."

Viniana nodded and left to relay the message.

Denanzig looked to the beast man. "I don't know what you are, but tell me. What de hell happened here."

"Lintha attacked us. They came out of no where," the beast man said.

Girlish sobbing was heard. Both the beast man and Denanzig turned to look to where the wolf used to be. Now there was a girl in boyish clothes crying. She had insanely bright yellow wolfish eyes.

"I was supposed to protect her. I broke a hole in the side of the ship so we could escape but all I did…. All I did…" she stuttered through tears to get it out. "All I did was make it easier for them to find us."

"You did dat?" Tetsujin asked, pointing at the gaping hole in the side of the ship.

"Yes… but… but… they killed her. I should have grabbed her. I shouldn't have ducked. I should have let that bolt hit me… instead of her. It should have killed me."

"No… No… dat shows incredible strength. I know… you did what you could." Tetsujin was able to muster out before crying again.

"Where you… da wolf before?" Denanzig asked.

"Yes. I don't know what happened. But I call feel so much more… I heard a voice inside my head…"

"Me too," the tiger said. "It happened to me after I decided I wasn't going to give up. So… I look like this."

"Oh. Kellen, right? My real name is Natasha… I was-"

"Nathan. I figured."

Footsteps were heard coming down the corridor entrance to the galley. Captain Barrons stood in the doorway. Her eyes showed that she had concern for her man but her stance was exactly what she was. The captain of The Cunning Plunder.

"Denanzig. I know this is hard, but I need you focused right now. Get your brother on the ship. We took what we could. It's time to leave. This ship is done for."

Everyone made their way to the deck. Denanzig helped his brother over to The Cunning Plunder. As Kellen and Natasha were making their way towards her ship, Barrons started to remove the boarding plank.

"What about my crew?" Tetsujin asked.

Barrons let out a "humph." She stared hard at Kellen and Natasha. "I don't know them. I am sure someone else will come by and take them where ever they need to go."

"No please!" Natasha screamed.

"Captain. Please. You have nothing to worry about with me," Kellen said as he stared at the entire crew made of Tya females. "I will be an asset to you, I promise. I won't hit on your women. I am faithful to my captain, and I can be just as faithful to you."

Normally Barrons had thick skin for these kinds of things, but somehow, Kellen's charm got the best of her.

"What about you, yellow eyes?" Barrons asked Natasha.

"I am a good cook."

"Oh my god Captain! Please keep her! I cannot take any more of Saldeana's cooking! Anyone else is better!" Viniana screamed.

"I heard that!" Saldeana screamed back.

"You said it yourself. You hate cooking!"

Saldeana smiled. "I did say that."

"Captain, if I may. She is good. I don't believe I have had better," Kellen said with the same charm he had just used.

"What the fuck am I, some kind of charity? God! Fine! She can stay too. But only until the next port!"

"Yes Cap'n," the crew replied


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

 _If I don't get something to drink soon… I am going to die. Why isn't there any islands around here?_ Ethan thought.

 _And that storm… It looks like I can't seem to get away from it. I could use the fresh rainwater but, it looks like it is crazy. I would be insane to go in that._

Three days Ethan had been out at sea. Three days since he was forced to leave his home. He had used all of his wind knots to get away from the green specters. Some days if there was no wind, he would just float along, waiting for a breeze.

No matter what he did, he seemed to get closer and closer to the storm. He curiously looked towards it, seeing its nastiness, but also hearing something else in the distance.

He heard the normal sounds, like the crash of thunder from lightening, and the howling wind, but did he hear a baby crying? Was there a baby in that mess? The gods must be playing with his mind.

He was resolved that he would meet this storm anyway, and now had the additional curiosity that there was something in there that might need saving. He sailed towards the storm.

As he got closer to the center, the crying got louder. The wind whipped around him. The waves of the sea threatened to crush his small boat. The sails were ripped off the tiny mast. And then finally, after battling with the storm, which seemed like hours, he saw the silver form of a crying storm baby in the sky, above a maelstrom. The baby was having some sort of temper tantrum. Each wail would cause a flash of lightening. The pounding would cause a gust of wind.

Seeing that it was just a baby storm god, Ethan cursed himself with his curiosity, as the maelstrom underneath the baby was growing in size and devouring anything that came near it.

Around and round Ethan went, seemingly to his death. There was only one thing he could think of in order to save himself from the swirling death.

Ethan jumped out of his boat towards the baby. He realized, mid jump, that there was no way he would reach the infant, but at least he was going to try. Somehow, the wind carried him towards the child. He felt surrounded in a silvery glow as he zipped through the sky.

He soared through, and snatched the baby from the air. The child stopped crying.

Ethan plunged towards the water, as he really couldn't fly, and braced for impact. The baby disappeared from his arms.

As he fell towards the maelstrom, a giant mouth came out from the water in the exact spot where Ethan was going to land. He landed on the tongue of the beast which was surprisingly soft. Soft enough that it was an easy landing.

The mouth closed around him. Ethan thought he was done for, assuming he was going to be eaten by the beast who's mouth he was residing. Yet somehow, all he could do was lay on his back on the tongue of this beast, as it was soothing. Ethan started to doze off in his comfort. He raised his hands to rub his eyes, and upon doing so, felt that his brow was different.

 _This feels odd,_ Ethan thought as he felt a protrusion from his brow. _I must have gotten hit or something. Or maybe I am so tired that I am hallucinating. That's it. This whole thing is a dream. Pretty soon I am going to wake up in my bed._ Ethan yawned. _I should take a nap to get it started…_

* * *

Ethan awoke on the fine sand of an alcove next to a beach that was comfortably tucked into an alcove with a nice bright and warm fire in the middle.

Figures around the fire seemed out of focus. _A wolf… on a mans body? A cute little girl… with a tail? And long ears? Were those claws? What the… A bull?_

Ethan rubbed his eyes, just in case he was seeing things. _Nope. Still there._

"Greetings, Ethan," the bull said.

"Uhhh. Hi," he replied.

"You have heard Luna's call."

"Uhh. What does that mean?"

"You heard her call. She told us. This is Anja Silver Claws," he said as he pointed to the cute kitty girl. "This is Red Jaws," pointing towards the wolf man. "I am Strength of Many. We are the Silver Pact. It is our duty to initiate new Stewards of Luna."

"Steward of Luna?"

Strength of Many sighed. "Yes. You are a Steward. She chose you, just as she chose us many years ago."

"How did I get here?"

"Our brother, Leviathan, took you to us. He does not go on land. You will meet him again someday."

"If you are a bull, and she is a cat, and he is a wolf, what is Leviathan?"

"He is an orca. A rather large one at that."

"So I was in _his_ mouth…" Ethan whispered.

"It is time for your moonsilver tattoos. We will also teach you the Sacred Hunt. But for now, tell me, what is your animal form? I am not quite sure by your… bumpy brow"

"Wait… What?"

Strength of Many sighed again. "Your animal form… _why, Luna, do you test my patience with these new ones?"_ he muttered under his breath. "Let us try a test. Do you feel your essence? A power inside of you? Concentrate."

Ethan concentrated for a moment, and then found it. "So that was that funny feeling when I jumped for the silver baby…"

"Yes. Now, tap into that feeling. Imagine it is all around you, to make you stronger, or faster."

Ethan concentrated harder. He saw scales start to appear on his hands and arms. He could feel his brow protrude even further with small horns. He grew in size! "Cool!"

"Ah, you are a… lizard man, I presume. A horned lizard. You appear to be strong, like me!" Strength of Many hit his chest with his fist a couple of times.

"What an adorable lizard!" Anja said, in a squeely voice.

Red Jaws just growled.

Ethan looked at his arms. He rubbed the scales on his forearm. Then he felt his brow, which, as described by Strength of Many, had small scaled horns on it.

"Very good! Now it is time for your tattoo's. This is going to hurt, so I will have Anja distract you. Anja, explain the importance of the tattoo's while I work," Strength of Many asked.

Strength of Many pulled out a vial of silver liquid and poured it into a bowl. He then took out a large needle attached to a flat wooden stick and dipped the needle into the silver. With fast, fluid motion, he hammered the moonsilver into Ethan's skin, stopping every few pulses to dip the needle in the moonsilver again.

"These tattoo's help protect you from Wyld taint as well as from becoming… insane. There is a price for being what we are. Without the tattoo's, you may embrace too many forms. Your control would lessen. If you lost control, you would either accept to die, or accept becoming a Chimera. And while the freedom of becoming a Chimera may be appealing, it has its disadvantages. You could mutate into so many forms, all at once. Others could possibly force you to mutate.

"Chimera are constantly hunted. They have such free will that they could very well cause destruction in Creation. They are hunted by many different factions, not just the Dragonblooded.

"I am sure you have heard of those right? The Dragonblooded?" Anja asked.

Ethan nodded.

"Either way, it is better to have the tattoo's, you will live a lot longer. I am sure you are a fan of that?"

"Yes, very much so," Ethan replied.

"Once we are done here, we will teach you the Sacred Hunt. Mainly because there are at least two more new Stewards of Luna near the area and they are on the sea. We would also like to give them moonsilver tattoo's.

"It would be beneficial for you to maybe hunt a bird so we can all fly to find them," Anja said.

"A bird? Turn into a bird?"

"Yes, silly! Partake in the Sacred Hunt, eat the heart of an animal, and then you can change into that animal. It is very beneficial! You are almost done with your tattoo's so we can start soon!"

Anja explained all she could about Lunars while Strength of Many finished his work. Red Jaws didn't say much during the time. He mostly just grunted every so often while staring at Strength of Many. After a few hours, Ethan was finished, with a whimsical pattern of silver tattoos across his chest.

"Finished! Not bad, if I do say so myself!" Strength of Many commented.

Ethan touched his fingers to his chest, tracing the pattern. "Yes. It is very good."

"Well, now that it is done, we shall now teach you the sacred hunt. This could very well take a few hours but we will see. First, you must commit only to the hunt. You cannot take a break, or wander off, or it will fail. You must find the animal you wish to be, and then chase it. If you manage to catch the creature, you must kill it and eat its heart. Remember, you have to dedicated to the hunt, and in the honor of Luna.

"There are many different birds here so you need to find the one you want and then do nothing else but hunt that animal. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand. I saw a large white crane not too long ago. Is that a good choice?"

"Ah, yes. One of the larger birds on this isle. A good choice. Go. Find the bird. We will be near."

Ethan stalked the crane for a good 30 minutes before he figured out his strategy. Somehow it was instinctual, the hunt. He knew exactly want he needed to do. It was another 2 hours before he finally seized the bird.

After eating the heart of the crane, he tested the new form and flew back to alcove.

"Oh very good! What a pretty bird!" Anja squealed.

Ethan shifted back into his human form, with the protruding brow.

"The rest will come to you as you explore. For now, we need to fly to some others of our kind. They are also new, so it would be good of you to stay with them. If they accept you. Let us fly!"


End file.
